Motor Traffic Department decentralises driving licence issuance via online
Sri Lankans are now able to get a new driving license with biometric details of the holder such as the blood group and organ donations in their native villages without visiting Colombo using the online facility introduced by the Motor Traffic Department (MD), the head of the department disclosed.
File photo: Police direct traffic in Colombo
MTD Commissioner General S. H. Harischandra told the Business Times that the new system has been introduced in six major districts in the country to provide fast and efficient service and curb the interference of middlemen who bypass the procedure to secure driving licences.
The earlier manual system has resulted in sometimes issuing licences on fake names and to people who could not drive vehicles properly.
In the online system, a driving licence applicant’s record will be tamper proof and it could be assessed easily, he revealed. This online facility is now available in offices at Kalutara, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Jaffna, Hambantota and Anuradhapura districts. All these driving licence systems are connected to one network at Werahera and Narahenpita MTD head office.
“The Hambantota and the Anuradhapura offices have facilities for printing driving licences and we hope to provide such facilities to other areas as well,” he said.
The driving licence card printing facility is available at Werahera, Narahenpita, Hambantota and Anuradhapura at present. The department will send the printed driving licence cards to applicants of Jaffna, Kalutara, Gampaha and Kurunegala by mail from the head office at Narahenpita within a couple of days, he said.
According to the department, around 150 new drivers enter the roads every hour in Sri Lanka. The current district level offices have been upgraded to offices under the Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner, he said.
He revealed that the MTD has been automated with an online network at district level with the aim of simplifying the work and make it efficient.